


I'm surrounded by a symphony of notes (but all I can hear is you)

by browneyedgenius



Series: Drabbles/Ficlets of SHIELD [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, a character study ish, birthday fic, happy birthday zi!, relationship study?, sticky notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27461461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/browneyedgenius/pseuds/browneyedgenius
Summary: The first time Phil Coulson met Melinda May, he was an eighteen year old at SHIELD Academy, wide eyed with wonder at the absolute skill with which she managed to beat his roommate John Garrett up.Philinda's story from the first day they met to when Phil approaches May in her cubicle.
Relationships: Phil Coulson & Melinda May, could be read as philinda
Series: Drabbles/Ficlets of SHIELD [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985476
Comments: 9
Kudos: 13





	I'm surrounded by a symphony of notes (but all I can hear is you)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aziyee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aziyee/gifts).



> Happy late birthday Zi!!! It's been great being fandom frens with you and chatting about which songs personify Philinda the best.   
> I hope you like this birthday present! <333

The first time Phil Coulson met Melinda May, he was an eighteen year old at SHIELD Academy, wide eyed with wonder at the absolute skill with which she managed to beat his roommate John Garrett up. So he stuck a little sticky note onto her binder.

_ Good job. He deserved it. _

(After all, loyalty to a roommate only went so far, especially if said roommate was hitting on a shy sci-ops student who really didn’t like him.)

May’s eyes caught sight of the bright yellow note, a small smile making her way onto her face as she read it. 

Garrett  _ totally  _ deserved it. 

<>

Phil Coulson made a habit of leaving sticky notes for her as they grew closer, whether it was to congratulate May for a good grade in class or to remind her to bring a jacket when it got colder outside. Each time May saw one she would smile. 

They graduated the academy with proud eyes and grins on their faces, and Coulson presented her with a bouquet of pink and red and yellow sticky notes, each with a handwritten congratulations on them. 

They went on their first mission, and to celebrate, Coulson wallpapered her apartment with columns of sticky notes, writing their top moments on each one. 

_ When May kicked that guy’s ass, _ said one.

_ When Coulson tried to talk his way out of getting caught and almost got punched in the face, _ said another. 

_ When May saved me from getting punched in the face, _ said the third one.

They added to the sticky notes after each and every mission, until one room in May’s apartment was forever designated as ‘The Sticky Note Room.’ It overfilled with sticky notes, each one of them different, stuck over top of one another. 

May fell in love and got married to Andrew, selling her apartment, and the notes were painstakingly moved to Coulson’s place. 

And then Bahrain happened. 

Needless to say, they didn’t add any sticky notes to the room for that mission. In fact, they didn’t add any more sticky notes to the room afterwards at all. 

May transferred to administration, and there weren’t exactly a lot of highlights to her day. And although Coulson kept going on missions, he couldn’t bring himself to add to the room without her.

<>

Years passed, and Coulson died on the Helicarrier. With a sort of shocked numbness echoing through her head, May revisited that room, the paling sticky notes burnt by the sun reminding her of everything they would never have again. She cried for Coulson there, surrounded by all of their little moments, all of the words they said and the words they didn’t say. She regretted it, of course, not saying those words, but her regrets had already been piled on top of each other one by one until she couldn’t tell which was which. 

She couldn’t bring herself to sell Coulson’s apartment for him, instead saving up part of her salary to pay for it. 

The day Fury admitted to her that Coulson was, against all odds, still alive, was when the walls of sticky notes were finally added to again, each new sticky filled with disbelieving words of absolute joy. 

She arrived in administration the next morning with the brightest smile on her face, scaring more than a few of her coworkers. She couldn’t bring herself to care, though. Coulson was alive, and that was all that mattered. 

<>

These days, May stapled sheets of paper with a slight smile on her face, knowing that Coulson would approach her any day now to ask her to be on his team. She still felt some misgivings towards having to spy on her best friend, but she knew it was the right thing to do. (And she couldn’t help but want to work with Coulson again, it had been too long.)

So when Coulson handed her the Mobile Command Unit authorization file for her to sign, with a dopey smile on his face and a sticky note saying  _ Join us? _ stuck to the cover, she said yes. 


End file.
